


Lavender

by Homemade_hand_grenade



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alpha John, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Implied Mpreg, Implied Relationships, Imprisonment, M/M, Mating, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Minor Character Death, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Omega Sherlock, Omega Verse, Weird Biology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-01-27 03:05:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1712636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Homemade_hand_grenade/pseuds/Homemade_hand_grenade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John is certain Sherlock is hiding something, but nothing on earth could have prepared him for the truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Trouble with Sherlock.

**Author's Note:**

> Shouldn't need Brit-Picking as I am British.
> 
> This is a shortish teaser chapter to get the ball rolling with my first ever Sherlock Fic, hopefully further chapters will be longer.xx

 

  

 

 

 

It wasn’t that living with Sherlock was hard exactly, it was just still so new, everything John had ever wanted in a friend was condensed into the personality of one person, one very cold, aloof, intelligent person, but a friend non the less. God yes Sherlock was a trying bastard at times but living with the sociopath brought a happiness and fulfilment that John could have previously only dreamt about.

So here he was two years after their meeting in a laboratory in St. Bart’s, placing a steaming cup of tea in front of the consulting detective while the brunet stared into his microscope.

"Here you go, nice hot cup of tea" John said as he sat opposite Sherlock in the kitchen. He was met with only a brief glance before Sherlock held out his hand.

"Pen?" He stated as he stared once more into the eyepiece.

John reached across to the kitchen cabinet and threw him a biro, slightly surprised with the deftness in which Sherlock caught it.

"You know, for a Beta you are damned quick" John smirked.

Sherlock merely began to scribble his findings in a note book. "And for an Alpha you are suprisingly talkative"

John got the message that Sherlock wanted to be left alone and carried his tea up to his room to read his book. Little did he know that in just a few short weeks the cosy life he had built with Sherlock would come crumbling down around him.

It was the night after a particularly violent case when John first noticed that something was amiss, the investigation had taken place at an Alpha fight club, a place where unbonded Alphas allowed themselves to let off a little steam as it were.

Usually this was achieved by attempting to beat each other to death. John abhorred the place, he couldn't understand why Alphas felt the need to engage in combat with strangers, but then again John knew that feeling all too well, and the desire to protect when you had nothing to defend could be maddening.

It was probably the reason he first entered the army, the war for Queen and country gave him purpose, a sense that he was maintaining a balance. Like the Alphas at the fight club, he was using the thrill of the fight as a replacement for his lack of an Omega.

The case involved the death of two Alphas who at first it seemed had killed each other, but with Sherlock's keen eye and frankly miraculous deducting skills it became apparent that there was a more sinister operation at play. A network of Alpha primes had taken it upon themselves to reduce the already small proportion of alphas, in order to eliminate the competition for the even smaller ratio of Omegas.

The whole crime scene stank of Alpha and John had noticed Sherlock’s initial recoil as he entered the room which held the fighting ring. John sniffed the air, other than Alpha and the smell of decomposition which Sherlock was used to there were no other scents in the room.

As a Beta one of the 'normal' people, the consulting detective shouldn't have been able to smell anything out of the ordinary, so why was Sherlock currently gripping the doorframe with white knuckles and a look of absolute horror on his face.

John almost dismissed this when the brunette seemed to compose himself, suddenly standing deftly with his chin in the air and proceeding to examine the dead Alphas with his magnifying glass. It took mere minutes for Sherlock to find the evidence of the involvement of the Alpha primes, a small corner of a betting slip in the pocket of the smaller alpha gave the address of BetNow, a shop Lestrade knew all too well. It as the base of an organised crime gang he'd been trying to pin something on for months.

"It's the HQ of a Mr Carland Cross, an Alpha prime who runs most of the crime syndicates in North West London." The silver haired inspector pondered. "But why would he bother trying to kill Alphas?"

"It’s all about territory!" Sherlock replied, his quicksilver eyes scanning the room for anything he might have missed. "They want omegas, the competition is high and they want to insure they get breeding rights. I can’t help feeling there is more to this than meets the eye...John?"

John stared at the corpse of the larger alpha “It would make sense I suppose, but why go to all this trouble setting up a false fight club, why not just take them out in the street, I'm sure they would have the power to do that"

"Ohhh!" Sherlock exclaimed "But of course, lots of random disappearing Alphas would mean nothing, but showing that the alphas fought to the death sends a message" Sherlock closed his eyes and held his gloved hands to his temples“Think!”

"What message? Who is it for?" Lestrade asked impatiently. Sherlock’s eyes snapped open and he moved gracefully over to the inspector, his Belstaff coat whirling with each step.

"To the omegas of course, if I were an Alpha who wanted to bond with a willing omega, I would have to show that I had the physical prowess to defend and protect them and our offspring, would I not John?"

"Well..erm.. yes I suppose so" "Therefore if dozens of Alphas had killed each other then any remaining Alphas would appear to be the superior mate, regardless of whether or not they’re Alpha primes!” Sherlock revealed.

"Yes Sherlock but that still doesn’t tell us what this sudden need to be bonded ASAP is all about anyway? And why aren't the Alphas in their communities with their packs? Why come and mix with Betas?" demanded Lestrade.

"Argh"Sherlock rubbed his temples in frustration. “We will have to investigate this further at home. Do see if Anderson and his minions can hold it together long enough to gather some DNA evidence, John come along, back to Baker Street!"

 The cab journey felt like it took an absolute age, Sherlock ran through several scenarios out loud before becoming quiet. The blond watched the Beta as he stared out of the opposite window. Sherlock was a strong man, but he appeared so delicate right now, John couldn't help but notice the detective’s current increased breathing and the sweat running down his forehead.

“Sherlock? Are you okay? He asked tentatively laying a hand on the brunet’s arm. Sherlock quickly pulled out of his grasp.

"Of course John I just...I...I need to sleep perhaps." He snapped.

That was true enough; Sherlock had been awake for days it seemed. The brunet rubbed at the sweat that was gathering at his nape and quickly wiped his sleeve across his brow, Sherlock appeared flushed, his eyes glassy. He wound down the cab window, letting the cold air blow across his fevered skin.

Back in 221B, Sherlock quickly shucked off his coat, barely managing to hook it on the hanger behind the door before disappearing into the en suite bathroom. The coat soon fell down in a crumbled heap on the carpet and John sighed as he was forced to retrieve it.

As he hung it up a strange scent caught his nose and he pulled the Belstaff back down, sniffing at the collar. It smelled of Sherlock but there was something else, a hidden aroma that was so familiar but John failed to put his finger on it, frowning the blond Alpha replaced the coat, took one last glance in the direction of the kitchen and retired to his bedroom.

John barely slept that night, his mind playing over Sherlock’s unusual behaviour at the crime scene. He thought of all the times Sherlock had dissapeared for days on end with little or no explanation, the strange mood swings and the secrecy. If he didn’t know any better he would think the detective was hiding something from him, but what exactly?

 

 

The blond Alpha showered and dressed quickly, putting on his slippers before making himself his morning cup of tea, he was opening the cupboard to retrieve the teabags when he noticed a post-it note stuck to his favourite mug; it was yellow and covered in Sherlock's recognisable scrawl.

**Gone to do some more research, back in a few days. SH.**

John sighed and shook his head, here we go again, more running off to god knows where, well fuck him John thought, he was due at the clinic tomorrow and he did not have time to waste worrying. The blond settled himself down in his chair for a nice day of reading, blogging and TV watching.

He had barely opened his laptop when he heard a loud crash from Sherlock’s bedroom. John jumped up, grabbed his Browning and headed slowly into the room. The window was open and the curtains blew in the morning breeze, the Alpha circled the room cautiously, gun pointed up as he checked the en suite, the wardrobe and even under the bed, the coast was clear and John put his gun on the bedside table, it was then that he heard a crunching noise as he stepped away from Sherlock’s bed.

Glancing at the floor by his foot he noticed the framed picture of the periodic table had fallen off of the wall and shattered. John groaned, his shoulders slumped and he went to fetch the dustpan and brush to clear it away.

As he picked up the frame to remove the pieces of broken glass, three Polaroid photographs fluttered down to the ground. John scooped them up gently and shook off the tiny pieces of glass. He gazed in confusion at the three small images, they appeared to be photos of babies, fairly recent, definitely in the last decade or so, the Alpha couldn't determine if they were the same child or not, but each seemed to be male, if the blue clothing was anything to go by and all of them newborns.

Why on earth did Sherlock have these, where they for a case? It was so unusual that John even suspected some horrible things about Sherlock, was he one of those people? The ones who liked children a little too much?

He decided the only thing he could do was to wait until Sherlock returned and confront him.

 

 

 

 


	2. The Way of the World.

Two days later John was sat at the table in the living room when he heard Sherlock’s key in the door. The blond Alpha had just gotten in from work and was about to type up an E-mail to a Mary Morsdan, who he had been corresponding with after meeting her on an internet dating site.

The Polaroids of the babies lay on the table next to his laptop and he steeled himself for what could be a very uncomfortable discussion.

“John” Sherlock said as he hung up his coat and toed off his shoes. The brunet looked absolutely wretched.

“Sherlock before you say anything, I have a question for you” The consulting detective walked slowly to the table where John held up the three photos of the babies. The colour drained from Sherlock’s face and he made an audible gasp.

“Were did you get those! How dare you go snooping into my personal belongings while I am not even……”

“Who are they Sherlock? Why do you have them? You don’t have any young family members; do you not see how suspicious it looks for a single man to own images of children he doesn’t know?”John asked, not looking away from his laptop screen.

“They….they are just pictures John, I found them at a crime scene years ago; I don’t know why I kept them, just a moment of sentimentality, a moment of weakness.” Sherlock insisted.

“Then you won’t mind if I destroy them then?” John turned to look into Sherlock’s eyes, he expected many things from the brunet, anger, indifference, irritation but never tears! He was sure he could see a distinct wetness forming across the consulting detective’s corneas as he stared longingly at the photos in John’s hand.

“Of course not, burn them if you must, I have experiments to attend to!” Sherlock turned on his heel and headed for the kitchen sliding the doors shut with a clatter. The doors opened again and the detective stuck his head out

“And you better not have messed up my sock index!” He snapped before slamming the doors once more.

John mused over the images in his hand, maybe they were just from a case and John was being overprotective, but something was niggling in the back of his mind, he pinched the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt to suppress an oncoming migraine, before placing the Polaroids under the papers in the bottom of a drawer. He took a deep breath and began to write the E-mail to his new Beta girlfriend.

 

“God damn it Sherlock!” John shouted the next morning as he opened the bread bin to make some toast and found a freezer bag full of human ears. Sherlock shuffled past him, grabbing the bag, walking into his room and slamming the door.

The consulting detective hadn’t spoken to the Alpha in three days, not since the discussion about the photographs. The blond had had enough, and dug around in the drawer until he located them, sliding them under Sherlock’s bedroom door. He was walking back to the toaster when the door opened and the tall beta stood in the frame.

“Thank you John” Sherlock sighed.

“Thank you for what?” John said irritably, depressing the toaster lever and clicking the switch on the kettle.

“For not destroying the photographs” Sherlock said before returning to his room.

“Sherlock, promise me that one day you will tell me why you keep them.” There was no answer, John sat down and began to eat his toast when there was a quarter of a second ring on the doorbell, which could only mean that Mycroft Holmes had decided to pay a visit, the bastard was nosy and cryptic and John could honestly say something about the Beta irked him intensely.

“John! Tell Mycroft to kindly piss off” came Sherlock’s muffled yell through the door. John sighed in irritation and went to let the elder brother in.

“Good Morning Dr Watson I do hope you are well” Said Mycroft as he shook the rain from his umbrella.

“Hi, erm Sherlock is….”

“Oh I know, probably sulking about a case somewhere, If you don’t mind, I would like a word with my brother…..alone” Mycroft replied marching past the Alpha and heading up the stairs. John grumbled as he followed, God the man was rude! Waltzing into their flat, next he would be expecting…..

“Tea if you don’t mind Doctor” Mycroft asked. John chewed his bottom lip and went to make tea in the kitchen as Sherlock sat down across from their unwanted visitor.

“And maybe some biscuits?” the overweight Beta suggested.

Sherlock glared at his brother and Mycroft smirked back, raising an eyebrow.

“No biscuits, no tea, just say what you have to say and then leave.” Sherlock snapped.

“I have some rather private matters to discuss brother mine, I do believe it may take a while”

“Then whatever you have to say, you can say in front of John.”

The blond Alpha moved to sit but was interrupted by Mycroft.

“Are you sure that’s wise Sherlock? Do you think Sebastian would appreciate that?”

The consulting detectives face turned white and he turned to John with the most curious look on his face, a cross between fear and guilt.

“A moment if you don’t mind John” Sherlock said quietly, his eyes pleading.

John nodded briskly and left the room leaving the brothers to their secrets, who the hell was Sebastian? It was all getting a bit suspicious this behaviour and John felt like he was being pushed out, trusted less and less.

The Ex-Soldier rubbed his face in irritation as he made his way to Mrs Hudson’s apartment, he needed to see if they had any mail and a nice hot cup of tea and one of Mrs Hudson’s scones would go down nicely.

Martha Louise Hudson was a whirlwind, cleaning around her kitchen as John sat at her dining table buttering a scone.

“Here you are dear, some mail came for you this morning but I didn’t want to bother you, I sensed that perhaps things had been a bit uncomfortable between you of late.” Mrs Hudson handed him the pile of letters with her rubber gloved hand, leaving them ever so slightly damp.

“Yeah it’s just complicated” John smiled bowing his head and drinking his tea.

“Oh I know love; it can’t be easy for an Alpha living with all these Betas, when did you leave your community dear?"

John nearly spat his drink across the table, Mrs Hudson knew about Alphas and Omegas? Christ the world was turning upside down. Very few normals were aware of the existence of a subspecies of human beings, Alphas and Omegas usually stayed away from ordinary people, because well frankly they couldn’t interbreed, not to mention the fact that if Betas got a hold of them they would probably end up in a laboratory somewhere.

“How did you know?” Said John gulping his tea harshly to avoid choking.

“Oh you don’t live as long as me without picking a few things up dear, I’ve been around in my time, plus I saw you do the eye thing the first time you came back from a case with Sherlock.

The eye thing, Oh god of course, he was usually so careful, Alphas and Omegas irises contained cells called chromatophore that could change pigment in seconds, much like those that change the scales and skin of certain species of fish and lizards.

Their kind called it oculi instinctu or the ‘Lumen’. Lumen occurred under the onslaught of pheromones and instinctual influences. Usually fear, adrenaline, anger, sex, territory, fighting and mating.

Alpha eyes often changed to a yellow/amber hue, in part due to sudden surges in testosterone, Omega eyes became a Purple/Lilac colour with their influx of oestrogen. It was believed that in the early days this helped signal a potential partner to a mate.

During puberty Lumen was almost permanent, it signalled your gender as your body flooded with hormones. John could remember spending at least 4 years in his early teens with eyes the colour of yellow ochre.

“Don’t worry I won’t tell a soul your little secret” Mrs Hudson smiled, as she noticed the worried look on the Alpha’s face.

“I left my community when I joined the army, it was in a small village in Surrey not much chance of a good match there, there are so few of us left.” John said slowly.

“Of course when I met Sherlock he knew straight away, his deducting skills are amazing. He told me he had acquired a lot of information from Lestrade apparently, the Inspector was adopted by an Omega as a baby.”

“What about your parents John? Do you not see them anymore?” asked the landlady as she dried her pots with a tea towel.

“We don’t talk much since I chose to live with Betas; it’s quite a taboo in our culture, more chance of being found out. My father is an Alpha and is very traditional, my mother is a male Omega so of course has very little say in the matter, but he always was more sympathetic.” John gave a sad smile.

The Alpha heard the front door slam as Mycroft left and his black saloon pulled away from the curb.

“That’s my cue, thank you Martha, for everything” John grinned and hugged the elderly woman.

“No problem whatsoever John, you and Sherlock are welcome here anytime, here, take some scones up for him”

She smiled. John took the steps back up to apartment B two at a time, and placed the plate of scones in front of the consulting detective who was sat in his chair staring into the kitchen.

“Mrs Hudson made you some scones, so what did the British Government have to say for himself?” John said sitting in his own chair.

“It’s not important, have we anymore news on the Alpha prime case?” the Brunet asked, steepling his fingers under his chin.

“Not so far, there is only so much Greg can do when it comes to investigating Alphas, the only other person on his team who knows about them is Molly and that’s because she’s an Omega” John replied as he sifted through the pile of letters.

“Do you like her John?” Sherlock sat up in his chair and leaned towards the blonde.

“Of course I like her Sherlock she’s our friend”

“No, I meant, are you sexually attracted to her John, because she’s an Omega?”

“Well I haven’t really thought about it, I mean I don’t really go for that sort of thing, I’m trying to distance myself from the community.”

John said opening an envelope with his finger.

“So, you remain unattached, yes?” Sherlock breathed as he inched even closer to John.

“Well actually I have my first date with Mary on Tuesday, I met her online, and she’s a Beta like you” John smiled thinking fondly of the brief telephone conversation he’d had with her the day before.

Sherlock couldn’t have jerked back into his seat faster if there had been a bungee cord tied around his waist

. “I’m not hungry, you eat the scones.” He stood up abruptly and walked to his room, slamming the door behind him.

John sighed, okay so the mood swings had returned, just what he needed, nothing was worse than a consulting detective without a case. It was then that the Alpha smelt the distinctive aroma of cigarettes.

“Not again!” He leapt up and stormed into Sherlock’s room to find the Beta sat on the window ledge blowing smoke out of the window.

“What has gotten into you lately?” John asked as he picked the cigarette out of Sherlock’s fingers and threw it into the yard.

“It’s just a cigarette, you cannot just barge in here and tell me what to do in my own flat, in my own room” He replied standing tall to face the angry blond.

“Are you trying to kill yourself Sherlock? you were doing so well!, what is all this about why are you behaving like this? Like a……”

“Like a what John?”

“Like a fucking child!!”

Sherlock turned his head away and sighed.

“Let me in Sherlock, let me know what is bothering you so I can help you deal with it, I am here for you!”

“I don’t need your help, I don’t need anyone’s help I need….a cigarette!” the Beta snapped, picking up another cig and placing it in his mouth.

“Urgh I’ve fucking had it! I am going away for a few days, sort yourself out Sherlock, I can’t live like this!”

John stormed away, heading to his room to pack a bag. He threw on his coat and shoes, grabbing his wallet and checking himself in the mirror. “Damn it” He’d Lumened, his eyes now burning with yellow hues; the Beta had gotten him so riled up.

John rooted through the drawer until he came across his sunglasses, placing them on despite the cloudy weather; he stepped outside 221B and hailed a taxi. It looks like it’s about time I visited Mummy and Daddy for a while he mused.


	3. Bletchingly Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John returns to his community.
> 
> With thanks to SanneARBY, my beautiful Beta! X

An hour and a half later, John stood in the bathroom of the train, checking his eyes; they had finally returned to their normal stormy blue. Thank God! The blond Alpha thought, as he threw his sunglasses into his bag and returned to his seat. 

He really didn’t want to go back to his community in Blenchingly in the South Downs, but what choice did he have? Who the hell would take him in? Mike Stamford was away on a holiday with his family, Lestrade was in the middle of a messy divorce, and Molly … Well, John knew what problems living with an unbonded Omega would cause.

John sighed and fired off a text to Mary, letting her know that he would be out of London for a few days. He settled back in his seat to watch the green fields of the British countryside race past his window.

In less than an hour the Alpha was stood outside his family home, a small Tudor fronted cottage with a thatched roof, a garden full of Lavender and yellow tea roses, his mother’s favourites.

He took a deep breath and walked down the path to knock at the large oak door. It instantly swung open, and the sight that greeted him elicited a warm feeling in his chest. His mother stood there beaming at him in his usual flowery shirt and jeans. 

James Watson was the very image of a perfect Omega, short tousled blond hair flecked with grey, and a soft, delicate face with warm friendly blue eyes.

“Oh John I’ve missed you so much!” James smiled, pulling his son into a hug and kissing him on his cheeks.

“Hi Mum, where is Dad?” John asked returning the Omega’s smile.

“Your father is in the kitchen. He decided it was too much trouble to come and greet his only son at the door, apparently. Come in sweetheart; you can stay in your old room if you don’t want to nest.”

John laughed and made his way inside, placing his bag in his bedroom. He walked into the kitchen to find his father sitting in front of the Arga.

“Decided to come home, did you? Betas finally run you out of town?” asked the old Alpha grumpily.

“Hamish! For goodness sake, our boy has come home, hasn’t he? What more could you ask for?” James grumbled, making Hamish Watson stand to his full height and tower over his son. He looked down at him over the top of his reading glasses, his thick moustache twitching.

“Oh John, when are you going to find a nice Omega to settle with? Mrs Brown’s son Anthony is unbonded you know, I could put a good word in for you, eh?” the old Alpha winked.

John sighed. There they went again, John’s father the matchmaker. But at least he seemed to have cheered up since the blazing row they had when John had first left home.

“I have someone in mind, actually. Her name is Mary.” said John, purposefully omitting the fact that she was a Beta; he didn’t want to upset his parents.

“Oh Johnny, that’s wonderful! When will we get to meet her?” James asked, pulling the blond Alpha into another hug.

“Well done, my lad. Nice to see you’re getting back to normal. I can’t believe you even found an Omega in London. Why the odds must have been stacked against you, son.” laughed Hamish.

“Well, we’ve only just met, and I don’t know a lot about her. We haven’t actually met in person yet.”

“What community is she from?” asked the old Alpha.

“Oh, don’t pester the boy, Hamish! Come on, John, let’s go sit in the lounge and have a cup of tea. We haven’t scented each other in ages.” smiled James, as he flipped on the kettle.

And that’s where John found himself an hour later, curled up on the sofa between his parents with his head on his mother’s chest. The Omega held him tightly, resting his chin on John’s head.

“Oh how I’ve missed this!” the Omega said, squeezing John tighter and burying his face in the blond Alpha’s hair.

John smiled and thought how weird it would be if Sherlock walked in right now; seeing a forty-year-old man snuggled up between two sixty-year old men on a sofa. He was sure it would look bizarre to a Beta, but to his kind this was normal. He and his sister had slept in their parent’s bed for years, huddled together, scenting and nesting. It was normal. 

John only wanted his own room in his late teens when he saw Beta boys on TV had their own nests with posters on the wall. That was about the same time he realised he had to stop saying things like scenting and nests and mating, and instead replace the words with hugging and bedrooms and girlfriends.

That was a big adaption when he went to a Beta college a few miles away. Changing his perceptions of how relationships between people worked, the biology, the lack of Lumen; everything was just strange and wonderful.

Humans mated in male and female pairings, and although male humans mated, they couldn’t produce offspring. There was no scenting, no heats or ruts, no bonding or imprinting. It fascinated John, and that was probably the reason he first went into medicine.  
It was only when John woke up snuggled with his mother in his parent’s bed that he realised he’d fallen asleep and they’d carried him upstairs.

“Morning, sweetheart. Would you like some breakfast?” James smiled and stood, his heavily wrinkled pyjamas looking oversized on his small frame.

“Jam and toast please, Mum” John smiled and lay back in the bed, stretching a little. He could hear his father whistling as he mowed the lawn outside, and soon the sound of pots and pans in the kitchen as his mother started breakfast.

Maybe he needed this. He was feeling more relaxed than he had in a long time; but there was still a tiny niggling part of him that was pining for Sherlock and worrying about what the Beta was getting himself into.


	4. The Life and Times of Oliver Wilkes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver Wilkes just wants his Mother.
> 
> With thanks to my beautiful Beta SanneARBY

Sixteen-year old Oliver Wilkes sat in his room at his desk on the second floor of his father’s mansion, gazing out of the window as he ignored his latest biology assignment.

It was while gazing out of the window, that he saw the sleek, black car driving up the gravel driveway. Oliver stood quickly and leaned against the cool glass, the car stopping just in front of the main doors. 

A chauffer got out and opened the back door, letting out a tall, curly haired man in a sweeping Belstaff coat and blue scarf. It couldn’t be…! Oliver raced out of his room, thundering down the stairs and along the corridor, screeching to a halt just as the brunet gentleman entered the front door.

There was a moment of silent awe between the two before the man spoke.

“Oliver?” he said, opening his arms.  
The boy stared a moment longer before launching himself at the taller person.

“Mummy!” he cried, as he buried his head in his mother’s neck to scent him deeply.  
His mother held him tightly, scenting him and nuzzling against his hair. It was then that Oliver smelled something, something that didn’t feel right. It was his mother’s time, that’s why he had come; he’d come for father not to see him and his brothers.

“Oh, it’s your time. Father is in the study; I’ll get out of your way”

“No, Oliver, stay, please. I haven’t just come for that. You know how your father is, the rules he has put in place.”

“Fuck the rules” Oliver said, his blue eyes, so much like his mother’s glaring fiercely.

“Now, Oliver, you know if I had it my way things would be different. Where are your brothers?”

“Archie is watching TV in the parlour, and Samuel is with Nanny Ruth in the nursery.” Oliver sighed.

“Tell Ruth to bring him to the Parlour.” Sherlock said, as he walked around his eldest son and strutted into the house.

Nine-year old Archie was sat alone in the parlour watching TV when a familiar scent reached his nose. His nose itched at it, and then he sneezed.

“Archie,” a voice behind him said, and Archie froze. No it couldn’t be; he hadn’t seen his mother in six months. Not since… The small brunet turned to see his mother standing in the doorway. He gasped, dived off the sofa, and launched himself into his arms.

“Oh, Mummy! Where have you been?” he asked, scenting his mother. He rubbed his nose into the scent gland on his neck, sighing contently.

“Not far, my love, never far.” Sherlock replied, his eyes filled with tears.

Oliver appeared in the doorway, followed by Ruth who had a five-year old boy positioned on one hip.

“What in the world? Master Sherlock?” she smiled, nearly dropping Samuel as he stretched out to be carried by his mummy.

“Mummy…!” the little boy fisted his hands into Sherlock’s shirt and laid his head on the Omega’s chest.

Oliver could see his mother’s eyes filling with tears as Sherlock quickly passed a protesting Samuel back to Ruth; just in time as he ducked forward and clutched at his abdomen in obvious pain.

“Oliver, help me get to your father.” Sherlock groaned, the tall brunet grabbing at his sons arms and leaning against him slightly. Oliver walked his mother to the study, pausing briefly every time Sherlock had another cramp.

The corridor that held the study was dark, and the dim light of a lamp was visible under the door as Oliver tentatively knocked.

“Who is it?” asked a stern voice from the other side of the door.

“It’s me father; Oliver.”

“I told you boys not to disturb me unless there is an emergency, we will speak at dinner.”

“But Father, Mother….”

“For God sake, Sebastian, open the bloody door. I haven’t got all day.” Sherlock shouted.

The doors burst open, revealing a tall and stocky Alpha silhouetted in the doorway. He grabbed Sherlock by the collar and yanked him into the room, slamming the door shut in Oliver’s face.

Oliver composed himself before quietly kneeling down and gazing through the keyhole. His father held his mother against the bookcase, scenting him and nipping at his neck as his mother gasped.

“Back again are we, dearest? Heat finally got the better of you!” Sebastian grinned.

“If I had any choice in the matter, Sebastian, I would be on the other side of the planet with my children.” Sherlock gasped, as the larger Alpha licked at a particularly delicate part of the Omega’s collarbone.

“Ah, but love, you know the rules. I let you gallivant around playing detective, and you let me have your children and your heats.”

“I know them all too well – Ahhh…”

“But there is another little rule that you’ve been breaking, haven’t you, Sherlock?”

The Alpha pulled away to retrieve something from his desk drawer, returning to once again press the Omega against the bookcase.

“You’ve been taking contraceptives haven’t you love?” a look of disgust crossed the Alphas face ,and he grabbed Sherlock by the throat.

“Please Seb, you can’t expect that… We have three already, you don’t need-”

“Do not endeavour to tell me what I need, Omega!”

Sherlock gritted his teeth and bared his neck, tears streaming from his eyes.

“I was wondering why we hadn’t had another child in almost 5 years of heats, but not to worry, I have a little something that will sort it all out.” at this, Sebastian took a syringe filled with a yellow liquid and promptly pushed it into his Omegas neck, depressing the plunger before pulling it out and tossing it into a nearby bin.

“What… What?” Sherlock gasped.

“What was that? Just a little drug known to negate the effects of all known contraceptives. It’s amazing what you can get on the black market, Sherlock.”  
The Alpha turned his Omega’s face down onto the cold wooden desk, undressing him quickly and ripping off his own trousers.

“No Seb, please not like this, I don’t want another – Seb! Oh God, Seb!” the Omega shouted out, as he was roughly breached by the Alpha. His head was pinned against the desk by a large hand as Sebastian began thrusting violently.

Oliver blinked and looked away, sliding down the door and covering his ears to block out the sounds of his mother’s moans and his father’s flurried grunting.

Oliver ran to his room in tears, pulling a photo album from the shelf. He gazed at the pictures it held with longing, a wedding photo of his parents cutting their cake, his father with the biggest grin on his face, his mother with little more than a forced smile. 

The next one was of Oliver aged 7, and father on a bench in the garden with his heavily pregnant mother standing nearby. Mother looked so sad. Oliver skipped through the pages.

Another photo of his mother smiling down at Samuel and looking exhausted and sweaty in a hospital bed, his eyes in full Omega Lumen. The only photos in which Sherlock ever smiled were the photos when he was with his children and Sebastian was absent.

Why couldn’t he have a normal family? Why was his father such a brute, and his mother so unhappy?

“Oliver?” The Irish Nanny Ruth entered the bedroom, a worried frown gracing her soft features. “What’s the matter with ya, lad?” she asked softly, sitting on the bed beside him.

“Why can’t it be like the fairy tales, Ruth? Mummy should be happy, and Daddy should be kind.”

“It’s just the way it is, lad. You’re growin’ up now, and you can see it. Your Ma never wanted this life. Surely he loves ya more than anything, and I’m sure he never regrets fer a second that he had ya, but I don’t think ya Ma ever wanted to be owned by anyone.”

“But that’s what Omegas do, Ruth. It’s what I’ll do when I’m older. Like father says, I will find a big, strong Alpha to look after me. And when Archie and Sammy are old enough, they will find themselves Omegas.” Oliver sobbed.

“But what about ya dreams lad, what do ya want to do before ya settle down and have your babes?”

“Well I know it sounds silly, but I wanted to be a Doctor maybe, I like looking after people, Father says I should be a Nurse, but their abilities are limited, I want to save lives!” Oliver said looking at his faithful Nanny.

“Well der ya go! That’s only what ya ma was hopin for, I little bit of adventure, but he was married off by da holmes at your age, and you were born soon after, maybe he felt like he didn’t get a chance”

“I understand Ruth, it’s just so hard, I want mother to be happy, but I want me and my brothers to be happy too, I miss him so much when he’s gone”

“Well don’t worry now, things always turn out for da best, you’ll have your happy endin, I’m sure of it!” Smiled Ruth, hugging the young Omega tightly.

“Thank you Ruth” Oliver said quietly, drying his tears on his sleeve.

“Now less mopin, get your assignment finished and then you’ll have more time to spend with ya ma when he’s ready hmm” Ruth said leaving the room to see to Samuel.

Oliver gazed at his bedroom carpet, hazy as it was through the tears in his eyes, and contemplated what he could do next, he would fix his family, one way or another he would make sure everything was alright.


	5. There's something about Mary.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in Blechingly John gets a suprise visitor.

John was enjoying his stay at his parent’s house much more than he ever thought he would. He had missed his mother’s delicious cooking and his father’s brilliant parlour games, the warm safety of the house and its familiar scents. At this moment in time, John couldn’t understand why he had ever left.

He’d been there for four days now and life was currently the most relaxing it had been for years, but John’s hand was shaking, he knew that soon the desire for action and adventure would rear its ugly head. The Alpha gripped the chair arm tightly to stop the tremors, and was just debating what to do next when a knock at the door pulled him out of his reverie.

“I’ll get it!” John said, relaxing his death grip on the ornate fabric and heading unsteadily for the door.

“Thank you, dear.” His mother smiled, as he dusted the myriad little ornaments along the fire mantle.

John swung the door open; a smile fixed to his face, ready to greet a neighbour or relative and nearly closed it again in shock. On his front step was a woman standing quaintly, a woman he had only ever seen in photographs on the internet.

Mary Elizabeth Morstan.

“John? hey there! Sorry for showing up at your parent’s house like this, but I was staying with a friend nearby in Reigate, and she said her neighbour Mr Jones knew the Watsons of Blenchingly, so I asked if he knew where they lived, and he did. Sorry if I came at a bad time, I was just desperate to meet you!”

John stared at the blonde for what felt like an eternity. How the hell was he going to explain his parents or the lifestyle of his family and the people in his village?

“Erm.. no, no, of course not, it’s no problem come in. I, erm, I will introduce you to my parents!”

Here goes nothing, John thought, as he guided Mary to the living room where his mother had finished dusting and had started cleaning the fireplace.

“Mum, this is Mary.” John sighed.

If Mary had questioned his use of the word Mum in relation to the man knelt on the floor in a pair of yellow marigolds, she didn’t show it.

“Hello, love, nice to meet you. John’s told us so much about you. Sorry I look like a mess, I wasn’t expecting company.” Said James, pulling his rubber gloves off to shake Mary’s hand.

James leaned into Mary, expecting to scent her, which among their kind was a perfectly normal greeting. Being shocked at the sudden looming presence, Mary leaned back with a puzzled expression on her face.

James inhaled deeply and quickly stepped back, looking at John in shock.

“She’s a Beta?”

“I’m a what?” replied Mary with an amused laugh.

“Nothing. It’s an old surrey dialect, it means ‘beauty’.”

“Aw, that’s very nice of you, Mr Watson.” Mary smiled.

James gave a little nod and squeak and then disappeared into the kitchen.

“Well that went well.” Mary laughed.

John let out a nervous fit of giggles and guided the blonde Beta into the kitchen.

John’s father was sitting at the table with a face like thunder, John’s mother whispering frantically into his ear.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mary.” he said, nodding briefly. “But I’m afraid I have to go and help Mr Leigh fix the roof of his shed.” He stood up and walked out of the back door, slamming it behind him.

“I’m so sorry, John I shouldn’t have come, it was a bad idea. Is it because I’m a woman?” Mary asked seriously.

“What?” John laughed “No, why would that matter?”

“Well, with your parents being gay, I though they wanted you to be with a man?” 

“Gay? They’re not ga- oh, I see. But no, they have no problem with women.” John smiled.

Mary sighed relieved. “I was a bit worried. Sorry John, I’m just not used to this sort of situation.”

“Well, I’ll put the kettle on.” James smiled, trying his best to be happy for his only son.

“Oh, tea please, thanks” Mary grinned.

They must have talked for hours between the three of them; Mary told them how she was a nurse in a biology research centre and how she spent hours observing test subjects for new cold and flu medication.

John described his work at the surgery and briefly skipped over his and Sherlock’s involvement with police work, so far so good, even John’s mother was relaxing around the Beta.

James had just put the kettle on for a second cup of tea, when there was an almighty crash at the kitchen window, a cricket ball rolled across the kitchen counter and landed with a thud on the wooden floor. Mary glanced through the now gaping hole in one of the window panes and saw two young boys peering over a fence just outside.

They looked terrified, but that’s not what bothered Mary. What bothered her, were the boy’s intense yellow eyes. She gasped in shock, spinning around, and was about to inform John and James of what she had seen, when her eyes fell on the two men.

John had leapt in front of James and was shielding him with his body as James peered out over John’s shoulder. John’s eyes had become the same luminous yellow as the boys outside, and James’ were a strange lilac colour.

“My God!” Mary cried out, covering her mouth with her hand. “What the hell is going on?”

Over an hour later, Mary sat at the kitchen table, her shaking hands nursing a cup of tea. Her third, if John remembered correctly.  
She had been sobbing for the most part of an hour, her eyes now red rimmed, and her make-up leaving black trails down her face.

“So, let me get this straight, you are a subspecies of humanity that have been living in secret for ions. James is an Omega and you call him mother because he actually gave birth to you?” She said, as she held up a photo of a very pregnant James holding Harry in the garden.

“Yep.” John said with a weak smile.

“And you, your father, and the boys outside are Alphas who can inseminate an Omega, regardless of their gender?”

“Correct.” John nodded.

“And I’m an ordinary human, and you call us Betas?”

“Yeah.” John nodded again, clearing his throat.

Mary let out a deep sigh and stared into her teacup. “But other than that, you haven’t lied about who you are?”

John merely nodded this time, feeling thoroughly guilty for revealing his kind’s biggest secrets to a Beta he wasn’t even sure he could trust.

“Very well. It’ll be a hard adjustment, but I really like you, John, and I want to make this work.”

John balked at the blonde Beta. How on earth could she have seen all this and still want a relationship with someone who was technically a different species from her?

“Well, that’s good to hear. I’m just surprised you are taking all this so well.” John smiled.

“Believe it or not, you’re not the worst bloke I have ever been out with.” She laughed a bit. 

John smiled before his face became solemn. “Mary, there is one more thing. If we are ever to become really serious, I cannot impregnate a Beta, mainly because of our differences. We won’t ever be able to have children of our own.”

Mary stared down at her cup again and sighed. “Well, there is always adoption.” She leaned forward and captured John’s mouth in a kiss.

“I’m just going to use your bathroom if that’s okay?” smiled Mary shakily.

“Yes of course dear, upstairs first door to your right” James nodded.

When Mary left the room James shut the door, quickly gesturing to his Alpha son to come closer.

“I hope you know what you are doing love, how can you be sure we can trust her, maybe I should inform the Elders?”

“It’s okay Mum, I have a gut instinct about these things, Mary is a good woman, she would never let me down, no need to go running to the elders” John let out a deep sigh and smiled thoughtfully, feeling a huge weight off his chest now that the blonde Beta new the truth.

Upstairs Mary locked the bathroom door, sat on the toilet seat and pulled out her mobile phone. Wiping away her inky tears she dialled quickly.

“Hello, Professor? Yes its Mary, I’ve found them Sir, you were right all along, we have proof, the subspecies exists! ……… yes professor it is wonderful news! I will keep you updated.

Mary glanced at the screen of her phone as she ended the call, the name of her contact slowly fading from the display. 

The contact’s name was Moriarty.


	6. When First We Practise to Deceive.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock attempts to forget his woes by taking his offspring to the zoo.

Sherlock sat in the parlour of Wilkes manor exhausted from his heat, exhausted and quite probably pregnant. He lay down gently, wincing at the bruises left from Sebastian’s rough treatment of him; he closed his eyes and drifted into the safe familiarity of his mind palace.

Sebastian would be away on business in Japan for two whole weeks and Sherlock had decided to spend the time with his sons, seeing that John had run off to god knows where, leaving only a text message saying he was safe and would be back when he had thought things through.

That’s what Sherlock needed to do, think things over, how would he hide a possible pregnancy from his best friend? How would he explain Sebastian and the children to him, or the fact that he was an Omega all along?

The consulting detective didn’t have long to ponder these questions when a heavy weight and an excited squeak landed on his prone body. Samuel had taken it upon himself to dive bomb his mother and cover him in a flurry of kisses.

“Mummy!,I misses you, kiss me!” He squealed, grabbing the brunet by the cheeks and covering his mouth in sloppy licks.

“Goodness Sammy are you endeavouring to gobble me up?” Sherlock laughed, lifting the five year old into the air above him.

“Yes mummy, I’ll eat you all up and you’ll taste yummy!” Samuel cried as Sherlock lifted him up and down.

He laughed raucously and buried his head in his mother’s scent gland, nuzzling and wrapping his arms around Sherlock’s shoulders.  
It was only when little teeth grazed at his neck that the Omega sat up suddenly, pushing the child off of him.

“No Samuel, do not do that to your mummy, never again!!” Sherlock admonished. He was shocked, he hadn’t expected Samuel to exhibit Alpha behaviour so soon, Archie didn’t show any until earlier in the year when he turned nine and pinned his young omega cousin to the ground.

Sherlock hadn’t been entirely sure what to do, he had no experience with young Alphas further than his own brother Mycroft, it was so much easier with Oliver, the detective knew what made his eldest tick, he had lived that life himself, he knew how desolate an Omega childhood could be, especially that of a male Omega.

“Ruth!” Sherlock shouted and soon enough the Irish woman came bustling into the room.

“Prepare the boys for an outing; we’ll go to the zoo!”

“Yeah, the zoo! Mummy can I look at the gi….ger….gar”

“Giraffe?” Smiled Sherlock.

“Yes the Giraffes!!” Squealed Samuel.

“Are ya sure Master Sherlock? So soon after ya time? Ya must be so tired?”

“Nonsense Ruth, I will be fine, we’ll go after brunch.”

“Aye Master Sherlock, I’ll go and tell Archie and Oliver to be ready, come on Sammy boy.”

Sherlock hid how tired he was as they walked around the Zoo, keeping a close eye out in case he noticed anyone who was associated with his ‘other life’ in London.

The boys where gazing intently at the spotted lizard when Sherlock felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Greetings Brother mine!” The familiar voice drawled from behind him.

“What are you doing here Mycroft?”

“CCTV cameras are everywhere nowadays Sherlock, you should be more careful”

“I am perfectly aware of that, but forgive me if I want to take my children to the damned zoo for a few hours, I won’t become a hermit!” Sherlock ground out.

Mycroft leaned forward scenting his brother‘s neck and Sherlock reciprocated as was usual for their kind.

“You smell pregnant brother dear, I take it you spent your heat with your husband?” 

“Damn it! Oh god! Mycroft are you sure?” Sherlock threw his head back and groaned.

“One hundred percent, as the Holmes family alpha prime I always know when that bastard has bequeathed more spawn upon you” Mycroft smirked checking his phone.

“Christ! What will I do, how am I going to hide this, how will I solve my cases?”

“Like I have told you before Sherlock, I know a good Doctor on Harley street who..”

“You know full well I would never do that My, I may be a cold hearted bastard but I am an Omega and it goes against every instinct in my being!”  
Sherlock stared at his children and thought of the new life he carried inside him, another beautiful child that would be born with the unfortunate genetics of Sebastian ‘no contraceptives’ Wilkes.

Oliver chose that moment to head in his direction.

“Uncle My!!” Oliver crowed, hugging the British government with as much force as his Omega frame could manage.

“Hello Ollie, I wonder if I could speak to you and your mother alone” said Mycroft as he twirled his umbrella in his hand.

“Of course Uncle, what is it that you wished to discuss” Sherlock stood protectively behind his son, wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

“Well I have an idea, how would you like to go and stay with your mother on his next outing hmm?”

“Mycroft!!” Sherlock barked his eyes turning a vibrant purple. “What idiocy is this? There is no way he could come to Baker Street, it’s just not possible the danger alone would...”

“I would love to; I would be with Mummy always if I could!” Oliver beamed, leaning back against Sherlock’s chest.

“Mycroft this is madness!” Sherlock growled out.

“Don’t worry brother, he can be your cousin twice removed, orphaned and what with you being the only Holmes left, his parents appointed you as guardian in their will”

“What about you?” Sherlock asked.

“My position lies in a far too dangerous and important world in which to bring a young man such as Oliver, why it’s obvious you would be the best choice!”

“Why Mycroft, why are you even suggesting this?” Sherlock sighed burying his nose in olives hair.

“Oh how quickly you forget brother, do you not remember your own blossoming!”

How could he forget, months spent curled up with his mother as he came into his Omega puberty and had his first heat, without her comforting Omega presence he would have died.

“Oh god! Of course, Oliver! go and find Ruby and your brothers, I must speak to your uncle Mycroft alone.”

Oliver merely nodded and headed off in an excited blur to the bat exhibit.

“He really does need to be with me doesn’t he” Sherlock sighed.

“Yes for at least a year if not longer, you remember how it was I’m sure.” Mycroft smiled checking his phone again.

“But John, John will smell him he’ll know straight away!”

“What is the last part of the blossoming Sherlock?” Mycroft gazed hard at Sherlock through his lashes.

“You gain your scent” Sherlock lowered his eyes to the floor in submission.

“Exactly, so you will be taking Oliver back to Baker Street, you will be insuring he shares your bed and stays with you at all times and I expect that gives you at least a few months before you are forced to tell John the truth, it will either be that or you will start showing.” 

“Why are you doing this Mycroft, I could just come and stay with Seb for the foreseeable future?”

“Nonsense! And have you moping about the place like a lost lamb, your fire dies in his presence Sherlock, and I will not have you extinguished again.”  
“But John…….”

“Are you so blind brother that you really think John Watson would think so lowly of you because you are an omega? No? Or is it because you have been lying to him all this time?”

“I had to My! I couldn’t show weakness if the Yard found out I..?” Sherlock was lost for words; he merely shook his head and placed his hands over his eyes.

“What a tangled web we weave Sherlock” Mycroft said as he lifted his brothers chin, gazing into his little brother’s tear filled violet eyes. “What a tangled web indeed.”


	7. The Importance of Being Earnest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John goes back to the flat and Sherlock returns with Oliver.

John walked up the steps to 221b slowly, his holdall hanging from one shoulder as he fumbled to get the key in the lock and open the door.  
He’d received a text from Sherlock earlier that day, begging him to return home as something very important had come up and he was even willing to apologise for his recent behaviour. 

Swallowing his pride John had agreed to come home, and after organising another meeting with Mary back at 221b the following day, and saying goodbye to his parents he departed.

John had finally got the key lined up to the lock when the door swung open and he gazed up into a set of sea green eyes, well that’s the colour they currently where in the dim light of the flat. But John knew they wouldn’t stay that way for long, they often danced between shades of moss green and ice blue.

“John! So glad you are home er..er.. come in, I have some news!” Sherlock stammered.

John was taken aback by Sherlock’s nervousness and dishevelled state, whatever was going on it had Sherlock completely rattled, a rare sight indeed John smiled to himself.

The Alpha limped into the room and threw his holdall on the floor; he had just plonked himself in his favourite armchair when he noticed that there was another presence in the room, sat quite quietly on the sofa.

It was a young boy, he couldn’t have been more than 17 or 18, his hair was black as pitch and as curly as Sherlock’s, his skin was just as pale but had a softer golden hue to it. He sat as small as possible at one end of the long leather seat, his eyes downcast.

“Sherlock? Who is this? Is he a client?” 

“Well er.. you see he’s my s..my..second cousin twice removed, and it seems that after his parents died in a car accident I was the only family left alive who could look after him…yep that’s it.” Sherlock bounced on his heels.

“What about Mycroft?” John asked suspiciously.

“That’s what I said, but no apparently his great and powerful cakeness has a far too interesting and dangerous job to look after a child!” Sherlock said waving his hands around.

“More dangerous than chasing criminals around and getting yourself shot?” 

At this John noticed the boys head shoot up and he gazed in awe at Sherlock, wow, those eyes must run deep in the Holmes family.

“You got shot M..er..erm Sherlock?” Asked Oliver.

“Yes, but don’t you think for one minute that you’ll be doing similar, if you think for a second I would let you go gallivanting all over London with me and John, well then you’ve got another think coming!! Sherlock admonished.

“Alright alright, I understand its dangerous, but you have to admit M..uh Sherlock it’s really amazing, for an err err.. for someone like us to be able to do that?” Oliver grinned.

John squinted suspiciously at the pair, his gut instinct was telling him that something was off about the relationship these two had, if John didn’t know better. The way that they casually discussed things, it was like they had known each other forever. But he supposed that must just be Holmes genetics.

“Oh, I forgot to ask, or rather Sherlock forgot to tell me, what is your name?” 

“Oliver Siger W..er Holmes” He smiled.

“Right well, I’ll set up the couch for you until we can get a cot or a sofa bed.”

“No..no that’s fine already got a cot bed, Ollie can stay in my bedroom with me, and you know how cold it gets in here once the fireplace has been banked overnight!” Sherlock almost shouted.

“Okay well if you are sure, is that alright with you Ollie?” John asked.

“Yes that would be good thank you John….and Sherlock.” 

“Right I say we get a takeaway and watch some TV!” John smiled and Oliver nodded excitedly.

When Sherlock had gone out for takeaway and a few bars of Cadbury’s chocolate, John moved to sit next to him on the couch, with all the boy had gone through maybe he could do with a bit of counselling.

“So your parents, what where they like?” John asked quietly, he expected sadness or reluctance from the boy, but never the look of abject horror that suddenly fell across his features.

“Oh er, well my father I never really liked, to be honest I can’t say that I even love..er loved him, he ignored me most of the time. He was a businessman never at home for more than a few days at a time, always flying around the world making deals with big corporations.” Ollie looked at the ground sadly.“Mummy was lonely, but he..er she loved us deeply, she used to travel too, especially when father was home, you rarely saw them in the same place, and it was obvious they didn’t like each other, their marriage was arranged”

“Wow I didn’t know that still happened?” Not among humans anyway John mentally added.

“Oh yes, rich families you know! Anyway we had Ruby the nanny, she was with us often, and she looked after us really well you know, she was lovely but not as good as Mummy.”

“Oh so you have siblings? You said Ruby looked after ‘us’?” John asked.

“No er I meant me and Mummy, she looked after both of us” Oliver smiled but seemed visibly strained.

“What where you parent’s names?” 

“Oh er Sebastian and er….er Sh…She…I erm” Oliver quickly became flushed.

“TAKEAWAY IS HERE!” Sherlock shouted as he kicked open the door.

“Oh great, we’ll talk again perhaps tomorrow Ollie, if you’d like?” Ollie simply nodded and shuffled himself up to Sherlock as he sat on the couch until they were touching legs.

John couldn’t help but observe the body language of Sherlock and Oliver as the older Brunet dished out Oliver’s food. John could swear he had never seen Sherlock look at anyone with such an expression of fondness and dare he say love? He’d have to keep an eye on the pair and pray Sherlock didn’t have some terrible experiment waiting to test on his poor unsuspecting cousin.

o0o

After a good nights sleep, the morning came with hardly a sound, a cold breeze blew through London heralding the beginning of a cold autumn. John was up early, ready for his visit from Mary, he breezed around the flat collecting loose items of clothing and books and making sure everything looked neat and tidy, he was left with a pile of Sherlock’s clothes that still appeared to be quite clean. 

He knocked on the door to Sherlock’s room but received no answer so he gently crept in, placing the clothes on the dresser, he looked across to the cot expecting to see Oliver asleep, but the cot remained perfect, the bedding untouched.

John turned to see Sherlock lying on his back in bed fast asleep, Oliver lying on his chest, his head tucked under the older Brunets chin. Both seemed naked. At first John didn’t bat an eyelid, but then he remembered, Sherlock and Oliver where human, they didn’t ‘nest’! That could only mean one thing, something sordid was going on.

“My god Sherlock what the hell is going on in here?” John bellowed.

Sherlock shot up and gasped in shock; Oliver dived under the covers and hid. John was at least thankful that Sherlock appeared to be wearing his underwear. The consulting detective stood in front of John his eyes held shut tight.

“It’s alright John, just go to the lounge I’ll explain everything I swear I just” Sherlock winced.

“Why aren’t you looking at me? Sherlock open your damn eyes, what’s wrong with you?”

“John listen it’s a long story I…” Sherlock was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Stay here and get dressed I’m going to answer it!” John stormed off leaving Sherlock and Oliver in the bedroom.

 

Outside 221b 15 Mins earlier.

 

“Are you sure you want me to do this today professor?” Asked Mary into the microphone on her lapel.

“Yes dearie, I had some of my men check Johns flat out while it was unoccupied , we had a little snoop and took some DNA, you know from toothbrushes and hairbrushes and the like and came up with some very revealing information”

“Very well sir, do you have the team on standby?”

“Of course dearie, they are just inside Speedy’s café, they will be there in seconds”

“Roger that professor, I’m going in.” Mary took a deep breath, and with her mind clouded in guilt she raised her hand and rapped the knocker.

John swung open the door to see Mary’s smiling face, the wind was fierce and she was wearing the red coat that really complemented her colouring.

“Hi Mary, come in you must be freezing” They walked the stairs together and entered 221b.

“Don’t mind my flat mate, there was a little incident this morning but, nothing to worry about, it’s all okay now!” John smiled.

“Good stuff!” Mary smiled, she looked around the flat, it was strangely charming in an odd sort of way, but it screamed British.

“Four minutes and counting” the voice in Mary’s earpiece reminded her. Could she do this, John was human right? Well, a kind of human, they couldn’t just take him could they?

Sherlock and Oliver came into the lounge, their gazes down. John felt like he could have growled he was so angry.

“Mary, this is Sherlock my flatmate and his young cousin Oliver” 

“Nice to meet you!” Oh god she couldn’t do this there was a child here.

Before Mary could abort the mission the door to the flat burst forward and six, armed men in what could only be described as riot gear filtered into the room.

“I’m so sorry John!” Mary cried.

“Mary? What the hell…” John couldn’t say the rest of his sentence as a large tranquilizer dart, hit him in the neck, he pulled it out quickly but it was too late, he was starting to get dizzy.

“Mary? Why?” John staggered and then fell to his hands and knees, he looked up to see one of the men advance on Sherlock who had pushed Oliver behind him.

“No no , leave them, they’re normal, it’s me you want!” John slurred.

Sherlock let out an almighty hiss; he bared his teeth revealing some slightly sharp canines. John gasped, he knew that sound, that was the sound his mother made when he got in danger as a child. John turned to look at Sherlock and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Sherlock stood over a violet eyed Oliver, his own eyes blazing Lavender. 

“Oh God….you..you’re Omega!” John gasped and with his last bit of strength watched as darts hit Sherlock and Ollie, before everything went black.


	8. Only Human on the Outside.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John Wakes up in a labratory.

 

 

John awoke to a harsh blinding light glaring through his closed eyelids; his head ached with the residual effects of the tranquilizer.

John blinked slowly, sitting up and looking around through squinted eyes, desperately trying to focus in his groggy state.

He was in a cage, a glass cage in what could only be described as a Baskerville type laboratory.

He scanned the area, his cage consisted of a cot bed and a latrine, a small letterbox like hole was set into the base of the only possible exit, a reinforced door.

To his left was another glass cage, Sherlock lay in the cot, Oliver sat curled up on the floor in the corner whimpering. John looked out into the lab, men and women in white coats hurried around microscopes and machinery, and then he spotted her, Mary stood with a clipboard staring at John from a few feet away.

“MARY, why? Why keep us in here, at least let Sherlock and the boy go! It’s me you want!” John Shouted through the reflective surface.

“Oh contraire dearie!” A dark haired man appeared behind the blonde woman, his eyes as black as pitch. “You see, when we had Mary sneak into your flat looking for samples we found something very interesting, we discovered that another of your kind lived with you, this one” he pointed his finger at the prone figure in the bed. “Is what your kind call Omega, now tell me John, how does it all work?” Moriarty grinned.

“Fuck you” John growled out, turning his back and leaning against the glass.

“Very well, Mary, have we gleaned anything from the newest samples?”

“Well erm..Professor I ran full DNA work on all three of them, it seems that the Omega is the parent of the teenage boy, but it flagged up something interesting!”

Moriarty took the results from the blonde assistant, running his eyes gleefully over the document.

“It turns out professor that the markers in the boy’s blood show that Sherlock is his maternal parent, his mother.”

“Fascinating information indeed!, Tomorrow we’ll run a full diagnostic on the mother, find out exactly how these things breed when they appear male for all intents and purposes. Good work Miss Marsden! Carry on!”

John stared at the sleeping face of the detective, Sherlock was Oliver’s mother! Oh god the baby photos, the nesting, it all made perfect sense, in fact Sherlock’s surly behaviour overall smacked of an Omega removed from its mate and children. How had he been so desperate to integrate into human society that he had ignored his own instincts and failed to recognise two of his own kind. John ran his hand over his face.

“J..John?” The Doctor turned to the sound of his own name and saw Oliver, pressed against the glass.

“It’s okay Ollie, we’ll get out of here” John smiled.

“It’s not that John, its mummy, he’s..he’s bleeding” Oliver sobbed.

John glanced up at Sherlock’s bed, blood was dripping down the side and pooling on the white sheets. John shot up and started banging on the glass.

“Sherlock! SHERLOCK!!” John screamed pounding away at the barrier between them. Sherlock’s eyes fluttered before opening slightly, fixing hazily on john, his irises a blood red.  
John gasped; he’d never actually seen red eye before in person, red eye only ever occurred in Omegas that had lost one of their mate or children. Oh god! Sherlock must have been pregnant, he was miscarrying.

Finding what looked like a red emergency button on the wall near the door; John pressed it hard, setting off a series of alarms. Within minutes a hoard of people came running into the lab, followed by Mary and Moriarty.

“What’s going on?” Mary asked, running to the side of the cage.

“It’s Sherlock! He was pregnant, he’s miscarrying, the tranquilizer it must have been too strong, listen you have to save him, he has red eye, and if you don’t hurry it could kill him.

Mary’s eyes went wide, and she ordered the team to stretcher him to the operating theatre.

Oliver was held at gunpoint to the side as Sherlock was quickly manouvered out of the cage and away from sight, his red eyes rolling into his head.

Oliver crashed to the ground sobbing “Please he, can’t die, I need him, I don’t want this, why can’t we just be like everyone else!!”

“It’s okay Ollie; we’ll get out of here, your uncle Mycroft! He’ll help us! They can’t keep us here; we have to stay strong, for Sherlock, for your mum.” John pressed his hand to the glass and Oliver mirrored it, nodding. They sat back to back in silence for a while before Oliver started to tell John everything, about Sebastian Wilkes, his brothers and his life in Wilkes manor. John hid his tears as the boy talked.

“How is the patient? Moriarty asked as Mary walked into the room; it had been almost two weeks since Sherlock had miscarried.

“Fine, the miscarriage was early enough to be cleared naturally, we gave him medication to insure it was as painless as possible and within 48 hours his eyes had resumed their natural colour.” Mary replied.

“Excellent news indeed!” Moriarty smiled looking into his microscope.

“It seems that the Omega carries a womb and ovaries attached to their rectum, separated by a valve, we assume this is the way they engage in intercourse. On the internal examination we also found that Sherlock possesses bartholins glands, to create lubrication and aid entry.”

“Fascinating!” Moriarty beamed.

“There is just one thing, over the past 24 hours Sherlock’s temperature has spiked, and levels of oestrogen and copulins have risen dramatically, Also the valve, separating the rectum from the vaginal passage has opened slightly and he has begun to secrete lubrication, if I were to hazard a guess sir I would say that the Omega is entering something similar to a mammal's heat, like that of a female cat.”

Moriarty’s eyes widened. “This could be our chance to see the full mating process in action, put the Omega in with the Alpha and set the thermal and digital cameras to record. We are making history here Miss Marsden… History!!”


	9. If You Can't Stand the Heat.......

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things in the lab go from bad to worse and Moriarty reveals to Mary some of his plans.

“Let me go you don’t understand, I have to leave!” Sherlock begged a nurse checking his IV. He was strapped to the bed in what looked like a hospital room. No one had spoken to him in two weeks; he’d had to deduce his miscarriage and whether or not Oliver and John were still alive.

He had to get away, he was going into heat and without Sebastian, his only options without bonding to another alpha were a painful and possibly fatal heat.

He pulled at his restraints, he wanted to get out, and he needed to get to Oliver and John, where the hell was his pig of a brother when he needed him most!

The Omega could feel himself losing coherence, he had to hurry! Just as he was working one wrist free of the straps, four men came in and released him, pushing him down a long corridor. He attempted to fight them off and escape but was just too weak.

He was unceremoniously lifted off his feet and carried into a large lab; it’s then that he saw the two large glass cages in the middle of the massive room.  
“John! Ollie!” He shouted, getting the attention of the Alpha, his son seemed to be unresponsive in the bed.

“Ollie! What have you done to him? let me go!” Sherlock struggled until he was backhanded across the face, blood dripping down his lip.

Moriarty stood in front of John’s cage and opened up the small letterbox, allowing John’s scent to pour into the lab.

“No! No! You can’t do this!” John pounded on the glass. “Sherlock get away now, run!!” 

But it was too late; Sherlock inhaled subconsciously, his body relaxing, his eyes turning lavender and his pupils blowing wide.

“Jo…John!” Sherlock gasped as he slid to the cage door, showing his neck and rubbing against the glass.

“P..please?”

John dived to the back of the cage desperately holding his nose. “No this is wrong please, Mary, Professor, you can’t it’s not fair, we don’t want this!”

“Hush now Alpha, I cannot pass up an opportunity to record two Homo Sapiens Tertius as I have named them, mating for the first time!” Moriarty preened.

“Open the door and throw the Omega in, keep up the sedation on the offspring and start up their implants.” Moriarty ordered.

“Implants Professor?” Mary asked.

“Yes my dear, I had them tagged when they first came in, the implant is not only a tracking device but monitors their blood pressure, pulse and hormone levels, clever no?”

“Yes Sir” Mary looked away as they pushed Sherlock into the cage slamming and locking the reinforced glass behind him.

“To your stations, I want everything monitored and recorded.” Moriarty bellowed across the lab. People scurried everywhere readying themselves.

John stared at the new occupant to his cell, desperately trying to breathe through his nose, he had to hold off, he just had to.

Sherlock slid around the room, rubbing himself on all things John scented. His lavender eyes locked on the Alpha pressed against the far corner and he began to advance.

“Sherlock listen to me, snap out of it, we can’t do this now, we can’t let them manipulate us, we don’t want to mate Sherlock, what if we are never rescued? What if you bear from our union? Sherlock, we can’t let children be born in cages like rats.

“John…please…Alpha” Sherlock reached up and pulled Johns hand away from his nose. Tears slipped down the doctors cheeks.

“No Sherlock..” John sighed in defeat and took his first full breath of Omega scent. His eyes blazed a golden yellow hue and all thought of resistance was lost. He grabbed Sherlock by the hair, scenting his neck deeply before hurling him onto the cot bed.

“Yess…Alpha” Sherlock purred, arching his back and mewling.

John flipped the Omega onto his stomach, tearing away his hospital gown and pulling down his own trousers, it took less than ten seconds before he had penetrated the brunet and began thrusting furiously.

“Ahh Alpha, breed me….please…knot….please” Sherlock begged as he was thrust down into the pillows.

“Mine, you are all mine, forever!” John growled, his knot inflating rabidly pinning him to his Omega.

Back in the lab Moriarty watched the events unfold; paying particular attention to a scanner they had set up.

“Look Mary, the Alpha has a knot much like a canine. I wonder if there is some wolf in their DNA?”

“I found some variables sir, small amounts of DNA similar to various creatures, if I didn’t know any better sir, I would say that the Homo Sapiens Tertius had been engineered.” Mary stared at the screen, guilt once more eating her up inside, and perhaps a pang of jealousy.

“Stay here and continue to monitor the subject’s progress, I have to go and look at something.” Moriarty handed his clipboard to the blond scientist and walked quickly from the lab.

It was during the second full day of mating that John bit into Sherlock’s neck as he was knotted in him. Mary almost pressed the emergency button before she realised that this was some Tertian ritual of mating.

Tertian, it was the name the lab assistants and scientists had been referring to the subjects for days now, if she remembered from her childhood clarinet lessons it had something to do with triad chords, three notes coming into perfect unity. Much like the three genders of the new subspecies.

Mary thought back to the time she had spent in John’s community, his parents the local families with children. Moriarty wanted to show his research to the governments, to the scientific community. He wanted to be lauded as the discoverer of a new humanoid species. But what would happen to the Tertians? They did not come under the human rights acts; they had no defence against government interventions or perhaps even genocide. Would people accept their existence if this all went public? Could she live with herself? 

She thought at first, like Moriarty that the new species must just be animal like and perhaps even dangerous. But now, now she knew John and his parents, and there were children like Ollie and they had feelings and thoughts like anyone else. She had to help them; she couldn’t let this go on surely!

It took three days for the mating pair to finally finish; they slept for a while then demanded food and slept again.

“Mary!” Moriarty smiled as he waltzed into the room. “Come with me”.

She followed him down several corridors to what looked like an old set of communal showers, inside two young men where shackled to the tiles.

“What on earth professor!” Mary Gasped.

“Oh don’t worry, they are fine, we found these two Alphas sniffing around near the underground entrance to the labs. Note to self, the scent of an Omega in heat travels very far!” Moriarty smirked “So I couldn’t let an opportunity like this slip through my fingers, Reginald!”

A burly lab assistant came forward carrying a spray bottle, he sprayed it on the chest of the brown haired alpha, they watched as the liquid in the spray bottle burned into his skin, he let out a terrified shriek of pain.

“Was that acid?” Mary asked.

“Oh no my dear it seems they are quite impervious to acids and most poisons and toxins that would kill you or I stone dead in minutes. No this is silver Nitrate, a really mild solution, often used to disinfect wounds. Silver is deadly to a Tertian.” 

“So why are we using it on them?” Mary asked.

“Well what better way of insuring that they stay under our control, we can’t have them gallivanting around causing trouble can we? I have estimated that the population of Tertian per capita is about 1 in every 15,000 that means there are at least 5000 of them in the UK alone.” Moriarty grinned.

“But sir that’s a tiny amount, they are a minority why not let them live out their lives, they haven’t bothered us so far.” Mary replied, barely getting the words past the lump in her throat.

“Yes but they are excellent breeders, it’s only a matter of time before we are over run, before we become the minority, I have analysed the results from our investigation of the Omega, they are highly fertile and their pregnancies are much shorter in duration. Of course I will need to test more Omegas as this could be a fluke of Sherlock’s, but luckily we do have another Omega at our disposal. Young Oliver!”

Moriarty eyed the two alpha boys, the brown haired one was whimpering against the tiles, his wounds still smoking from the silver. The other, a tall blond stared Moriarty down defiantly.

“Name?” Moriarty asked.

“I’d rather die than tell you!” the blond spat out.

“That can be arranged, or maybe we can take out your little friend instead?” Moriarty nodded and more silver was sprayed on the brunet, this time in his face. The resulting scream echoed in the empty bathroom.

“No stop please, my name is Andrew.”

“Well Andrew it seems I may have a use for you after all.” Moriarty gazed hard at the young man.

“Mary, set up another cage next to the one holding Oliver and place Andrew in it.”

“Yes sir” Mary replied hurrying into the lab she ordered the techs to set up the new addition to the cell block. She sighed to herself, walking to the canteen to get herself a coffee and possibly something to eat.

Mary threw her ready meal into the microwave and sipped at her coffee, gazing around the room she spotted the newspaper perched on the edge of the counter its headline bold on its front page.

GOVERNMENT MINISTER HOLMES KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cover Art for Lavender](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4379627) by [yellowflashz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowflashz/pseuds/yellowflashz)
  * [Cover art for Lavender.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4391534) by [Homemade_hand_grenade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Homemade_hand_grenade/pseuds/Homemade_hand_grenade)




End file.
